Focus Speaker Feature – Betsy Rupp Fulwiler
by Valerie Joyner
Betsy Fulwiler is the developer of the nationally recognized, “Expository Writing and Science Notebook Program,” a part of the Seattle Public School System. She is a pioneer in the development of strategies for students to deepen their understanding of science through writing.
In 1996, with funding from the NSF, the Seattle’s Public System set out to make a systemic change from their Pre-K-5 science instruction to an Inquiry-Based Science Program throughout the district. Fulwiler, an active participant in this reform effort, was excited to begin teaching her students using the new inquiry skills she had learned. However, she found it challenging to teach her elementary students to write about science, and this marked the beginning of her journey to research and develop writing practices that encouraged analytical thinking in her students’ writing.
As a former editor with a Master’s Degree in English, Fulwiler has always maintained the goal of providing her students with meaningful opportunities to think and write about content area information, especially in science. Over the years she has developed and implemented strategies that help improve science literacy through science and written several books on the subject. We hope that you will join us Saturday, October 20, from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. to hear her talk, “Writing and Science: Scaffolding Instruction to Develop Scientific Thinking, Understanding, and Writing.”
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It is a photo of:
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http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/whatsnew/NaturalDiscourse/artists.shtml
Responses from Readers:
Peter A’Hearn: Rush hour in little blue circle land.
Full image:
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